Downlink Control Information Set Switching When Using Carrier Aggregation

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for reconfiguring a user equipment configured for multi-carrier operation from a first downlink control information set to a second downlink control information set while carrier aggregation is being used, including receiving a physical downlink control channel with downlink control information formats containing a carrier indicator field.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/457,313 filed Apr. 26, 2012 by Andrew Mark Earnshaw, et al.,entitled, “Downlink Control Information Set Switching When Using CarrierAggregation” (Atty. Docket No. 36940-1-US-CNT-4214-21907) which is acontinuation of International Application No. PCT/US2010/054849 filedOct. 29, 2010 entitled, “Downlink Control Information Set Switching WhenUsing Carrier Aggregation” (Atty. Docket No. 36940-1-WO-PCT-4214-21901)which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/256,841 filed Oct. 30, 2009 entitled, “Downlink Control InformationSet Switching When Using Carrier Aggregation” (Atty. Docket No.36940-1-US-PRV-4214-21900), all of which are incorporated by referenceherein as if reproduced in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (“UE”), “mobile station”(“MS”), and “user agent” (“UA”) might in some cases refer to mobiledevices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, handheldor laptop computers, and similar devices that have telecommunicationscapabilities. The terms “MS,” “UE,” “UA,” user device,” and “user node”may be used synonymously herein. A UE might include components thatallow the UE to communicate with other devices, and might also includeone or more associated removable memory modules, such as but not limitedto a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that includes a SubscriberIdentity Module (SIM) application, a Universal Subscriber IdentityModule (USIM) application, or a Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM)application. Alternatively, such a UE might consist of the device itselfwithout such a module. In other cases, the term “UE” might refer todevices that have similar capabilities but that are not transportable,such as desktop computers, set-top boxes, or network appliances. Theterm “UE” can also refer to any hardware or software component that canterminate a communication session for a user.

As telecommunications technology has evolved, more advanced networkaccess equipment has been introduced that can provide services that werenot possible previously. This network access equipment might includesystems and devices that are improvements of the equivalent equipment ina traditional wireless telecommunications system. Such advanced or nextgeneration equipment may be included in evolving wireless communicationsstandards, such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A).For example, an LTE or LTE-A system might be an Evolved UniversalTerrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) and include an E-UTRAN node B(or eNB), a wireless access point, a relay node, or a similar componentrather than a traditional base station. As used herein, the term “accessnode” refers to any component of the wireless network, such as atraditional base station, a wireless access point, relay node, or an LTEor LTE-A node B or eNB, that creates a geographical area of receptionand transmission coverage allowing a UE or a relay node to access othercomponents in a telecommunications system. In this document, the term“access node” and “access device” may be used interchangeably, but it isunderstood that an access node may comprise a plurality of hardware andsoftware.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is nowmade to the following brief description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like referencenumerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a communication system, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating aggregation of carriers, in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating alternative implementations of carrieraggregation, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating adding a CIF field to a Release-8 DCIwhile retaining any existing padding bits, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating adding a CIF field to a Release-8 DCIwhile removing any existing padding bits, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a two-way handshake procedure forperforming DCI set switching, in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing DCI setswitching, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a processor and related components suitable forimplementing the several embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood at the outset that although illustrativeimplementations of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure areprovided below, the disclosed systems and/or methods may be implementedusing any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence.The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrativeimplementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, includingthe exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and describedherein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claimsalong with their full scope of equivalents.

As used throughout the specification, claims, and Figures, the followingacronyms have the following definitions. Unless stated otherwise, allterms are defined by and follow the standards set forth by the ThirdGeneration Partnership Program (3GPP) technical specifications.

“ACK” is defined as “Acknowledgement.”

“AM” is defined as “Acknowledged Mode.”

“ARQ” is defined as “Automatic Repeat Request.”

“CA” is defined as “Carrier Aggregation.”

“CCE” is defined as “Control Channel Element.”

“CI” is defined as “Carrier Indicator.”

“CIF” is defined as “Carrier Indicator Field.”

“DCI” is defined as “Downlink Control Information.”

“eNB” is defined as “E-UTRAN Node B.”

“FDD” is defined as Frequency Division Duplexing.”

“HARQ” is defined as “Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request.”

“LTE” is defined as “Long Term Evolution.”

“LTE-A” is defined as “LTE-Advanced.”

“MAC” is defined as “Media Access Control.”

“NACK” is defined as “Negative Acknowledgement.”

“PDU” is defined as “Protocol Data Unit.”

“RAN” is defined as “Radio Access Network.”

“Release” followed by a number refers to a version number of the 3GPPspecifications.

“RLC” is defined as “Radio Link Control.”

“RNTI” is defined as “Radio Network Temporary Identifier.”

“RRC” is defined as Radio Resource Control.”

“PDCCH” is defined as “Physical Downlink Control Channel.”

“PDCP” is defined as “Packet Data Convergence Protocol.”

“PDSCH” is defined as “Physical Downlink Shared Channel.”

“PUSCH” is defined as “Physical Uplink Shared Channel.”

“SDU” is defined as “Service Data Unit.”

“SFN” is defined as “System Frame Number.”

“SRB” is defined as “Signaling Radio Bearer.”

“TDD” is defined as “Time Division Duplexing.”

“Tx” is defined as “Transmission.”

“UE” is defined as “User Equipment.”

The embodiments described herein relate to DCI set switching procedures.A DCI set is one or more discrete instances of download control linkinformation transmitted from the eNB to the UE. A DCI set might refer tothe set of non-CIF DC's or to a set of CIF DCIs, where a non-CIF DCIdoes not include a Carrier Indicator Field (CIF) while a CIF DCI doesinclude a CIF. DCI set switching refers to procedures for switching fromusing non-CIF DC's to CIF DCIs, or from using CIF DC's to non-CIF DCIs,or from using CIF DC's with a CIF of a certain length to CIF DC's with adifferent length CIF field.

Currently, issues exist with respect to DCI set switching when usingcarrier aggregation. In carrier aggregation, multiple component carriersmight be aggregated and can be allocated in a subframe to a UE. Anexample of an issue that can arise with regard to DCI set switching whenusing carrier aggregation is to ensure that the eNB and UE do not losecontact with each other during the DCI set switching procedure. Contactmight be lost as a result of errors, such as a NACK-to-ACK error. TheeNB and the UE might also lose contact with each other becausecorresponding DCI formats in each of multiple DCI sets might havedifferent lengths. For this reason, the eNB could be transmitting a DCIformat with one length, while the UE is attempting to blind decode thatDCI format with respect to a different length. These issues aredescribed in more detail below.

The embodiments described herein provide for at least seven differenttechniques for addressing these and other issues. In one embodiment, anactivation time may be specified such that the UE may receive an RRCcommand and transmit an RRC acknowledgement such that the eNB may reduceor eliminate the possibility of a NACK-to-ACK error occurring on theuplink transmission from the UE. NACK-to-ACK errors are described indetail below. The time in which the eNB might not be aware of aNACK-to-ACK error from the UE may be referred to as an uncertaintywindow.

In a second embodiment, the eNB might not assign resources to the UE viathe PDCCH during an uncertainty window. This procedure reduces thelikelihood of the UE receiving PDCCH communications that the UE cannotblind decode.

In a third embodiment, the eNB may transmit DC's from both DCI setsduring the uncertainty window. When using this technique, which DCI setthe UE was currently using is less relevant, because DC's from both setswould be present on the PDCCH.

In a fourth embodiment, a new DCI format might be provided. The new DCIformat could be defined such that the UE might always search for the newDCI format on the PDCCH, regardless of the current multi-carrierconfiguration of the UE.

In a fifth embodiment, dual DCI set blind decoding may be performed atthe UE in a technique that might be referred to as a two-way handshake.In this embodiment, the UE signals the eNB that the UE is monitoringboth DCI sets so that the eNB may switch to using the new DCI set. Inturn, the eNB signals the UE that the eNB is no longer transmitting theold DCI so that the UE can stop monitoring the old DCI set.

In a sixth embodiment, a specification or determination is maderegarding which DCI set is to be used when ambiguous DCI lengths arepresent. In a seventh embodiment, a switch may be made to non-ambiguoustransmission mode before switching DCI sets. Both of these embodimentsare described in detail below. Furthermore, these seven embodiments areexemplary only, as additional embodiments are provided herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a RAN 100, which may be a LTE orLTE-A network as described in the 3GPP specifications. FIG. 1 isexemplary and may have other components or arrangements in otherembodiments. In an embodiment, RAN 100 may be an LTE-A network and mayinclude one or more access nodes 110 and 140, one or more relay nodes(RNs) 120, and one or more UEs 130. FIG. 1 shows a second access node140 being present. Either access node 110 or 140 may be an eNB, a basestation, or other component that promote network access for the UEs 130.UEs 130 may communicate with each other via RAN 100, may communicatewith the various components of the RAN 100 shown, and may alsocommunicate with other components not shown. RAN 100 may enable awireless telecommunications system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating aggregation of carriers, in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure. In LTE-A, carrier aggregationmight be used in order to support wider transmission bandwidths andhence increase the potential peak data rate, for example, to meet LTE-Arequirements. In carrier aggregation, multiple component carriers areaggregated and can be allocated in a subframe to a UE, as shown in FIG.2. In this example, each component carrier 210 a, 210 b, 210 c, 210 d,and 210 e has a width of about 20 MHz. The total system bandwidth isabout 100 MHz. It is noted that component carriers may have otherbandwidths such as 10 MHz. The UE may receive or transmit on a multiple,such as up to five, of component carriers, for example, depending on theUE's capabilities. In addition, depending on the deployment scenario,carrier aggregation may occur with carriers located in the samefrequency band and/or carriers located in different bands. For example,one carrier may be located at 2 GHz and a second aggregated carrier maybe located at 800 MHz.

In LTE-A, one option to transmit a PDCCH in carrier aggregation is totransmit the PDCCH on a different carrier than the carrier on which thecorresponding PDSCH is transmitted by using an explicit CIF. Theembodiments described herein provide solutions and UE procedures toresolve various issues, including but not limited to, those related tothe introduction of the explicit CIF.

One of the issues associated with carrier aggregation is design of thePDCCH. Currently, two options currently exist for PDCCH design. Option 1is that the PDCCH is transmitted on the same carrier as the carrier onwhich the corresponding PDSCH is transmitted, and option 2 shows thatthe PDCCH can be transmitted on a carrier different from the carrier onwhich at least one of the corresponding PDSCHs is transmitted.

In the first option, the PDCCH on a component carrier assigns PDSCHresources on the same component carrier and PUSCH resources on a singlelinked uplink component carrier. In this case, no carrier indicatorfield is present. That is, the Release-8 PDCCH structure may continue tobe used with the same coding, same CCE-based resource mapping, and DCIformats.

Regarding the second option, the PDCCH on a component carrier can assignPDSCH or PUSCH resources in one of multiple component carriers using thecarrier indicator field. In this case, Release-8 DCI formats areextended with a 1-3 bit carrier indicator field. The remainder of theRelease-8 PDCCH structure may be reused with the same coding and sameCCE-based resource mapping.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating alternative implementations of carrieraggregation, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3shows the above two alternatives. The first alternative, shown at arrow300, shows the PDCCH is transmitted on the same carrier as the carrieron which the PDSCH is transmitted. The second alternative, shown atarrow 302, shows that the PDCCH can be transmitted on a carrierdifferent from the carrier on which the PDSCH is transmitted. For thissecond alternative, a CIF may be used to indicate the carrier on whichPDSCH or PUSCH is allocated. The CIF requires additional signaling bitsthat are added to a DCI, for either a downlink resource grant or uplinkresource grant, to allow PDCCH signaling on a PDCCH monitoring carrierto refer to resources on a different carrier.

Table 1 through

Table 4, below, contain the bit lengths of all of the DC's for differentbandwidths, and also for the cases of FDD versus TDD, and twotransmission antennas at the eNB versus 4 transmission antennas. DC's 0,1A, and 3/3A may always have the same length. The lengths of DC's 1B,1D, 2, and 2A vary, in part, based on the number of transmissionantennas in use at the eNB.

TABLE 1 DCI format sizes in LTE Release-8. This table relates to FDDwith two transmission antennas at the eNB. DCI Format 1.4 MHz 3 MHz 5MHz 10 MHz 15 MHz 20 MHz 0/1A/3/3A 21 22 25 27 27 28 1 19 23 27 31 33 391B 22 25 27 28 29 30 1C 8 10 12 13 14 15 1D 22 25 27 28 29 30 2 31 34 3943 45 51 2A 28 31 36 41 42 48

TABLE 2 DCI format sizes in LTE Release-8. This table relates to FDDwith four transmission antennas at the eNB. DCI Format 1.4 MHz 3 MHz 5MHz 10 MHz 15 MHz 20 MHz 0/1A/3/3A 21 22 25 27 27 28 1 19 23 27 31 33 391B 25 27 28 30 31 33 1C 8 10 12 13 14 15 1D 25 27 28 30 31 33 2 34 37 4246 48 54 2A 30 33 38 42 45 50

TABLE 3 DCI format sizes in LTE Release-8. This table relates to TDDwith two transmission antennas at the eNB. DCI Format 1.4 MHz 3 MHz 5MHz 10 MHz 15 MHz 20 MHz 0/1A/3/3A 23 25 27 29 30 31 1 22 26 30 34 36 421B 25 27 29 31 33 33 1C 8 10 12 13 14 15 1D 25 27 29 31 33 33 2 34 37 4246 48 54 2A 31 34 39 43 45 51

TABLE 4 DCI format sizes in LTE Release-8. This table relates to TDD,four transmission antennas at the eNB. DCI Format 1.4 MHz 3 MHz 5 MHz 10MHz 15 MHz 20 MHz 0/1A/3/3A 23 25 27 29 30 31 1 22 26 30 34 36 42 1B 2729 31 33 34 35 1C 8 10 12 13 14 15 1D 27 29 31 33 34 35 2 37 41 45 49 5157 2A 33 36 41 45 47 53

DCI Set Switching

An issue not fully addressed by the existing technical specifications isDCI set switching when carrier aggregation is in use. The embodimentsdescribed herein relate to DCI set switching when carrier aggregation isin use. The following paragraphs briefly summarize some of theseembodiments, as well as issues relating to DCI set switching.

A DCI set refers either to the set of Non-CIF DCIs, such as Release-8DCIs, or to a set of CIF-DCIs. Multiple CIF-DCI sets with differentlength CIF fields may exist. A CIF field may have a length from 1 to 3bits, possibly more.

DCI set switching refers to a procedure of switching from usingNon-CIF-DCIs to CIF-DCIs, or from using CIF-DCIs to Non-CIF-DCIs, orfrom CIF-DCIs with a certain length DCI field to CIF-DCIs with adifferent length DCI field. The embodiments described herein mainlydescribe switching from Non-CIF-DCIs to CIF-DCIs, but all of theidentified problems and proposed solutions may be equally applicable forswitching in the opposite direction. Thus, the embodiments are notlimited to switching from Non-CIF-DCIs to CIF-DCIs, but include any kindof DCI set switching.

In an embodiment, the CIF may include additional signaling bits that areadded to a DCI format to allow PDCCH signaling on a PDCCH monitoringcarrier to refer to PDSCH or PUSCH resources on a different carrier. TheCIF may be used for either a downlink resource allocation or an uplinkresource grant.

Non-CIF-DCIs may refer to DC's which do not include a CIF, such as theRelease-8 DCIs. This embodiment may also include the situation where thelength of the CIF was zero.

CIF-DCIs may include an additional CIF of length 1-3 bits with allrelevant DC's to indicate the carrier on which PDSCH or PUSCH isallocated. A DCI set may refer either to the set of Non-CIF-DCIs or to aset of CIF-DCIs. Multiple CIF-DCI sets may exist, with each CIF-DCI sethaving different length CIF fields.

DCI X may refer to a specific DCI format or length in a particular DCIset, such as (but not limited to) the set of Non-CIF-DCIs. DCI X+ mayrefer to the corresponding DCI format or length in a different DCI set,such as (but not limited to) the set of CIF-DCIs. DCI X+ may have agreater length than does DCI X, due to the presence of the additionalCIF field.

One case where DCI X and DCI X+ might have the same length is if DCI Xhas been padded to avoid an ambiguous DCI length. Ambiguous lengthsinclude 12, 14, 16, 20, 24, 26, 32, 40, 44, and 56, and possibly others.In an example, if DCI X includes one padding bit and DCI X+ includes aone-bit CIF, then DCI X and DCI X+ might have the same length. A furtherexample of this situation would be DCI 1A for a bandwidth of 10 MHz.This DCI has a length of 27 bits, of which 1 bit is a padding bit inorder to avoid the ambiguous length of 26 bits. However, thecorresponding DCI 1A with a 1-bit CIF would also have a length of 27bits, because the extra padding bit would not be required in this case.

Understanding of DCI set switching may be enhanced by an understandingof RRC signaling. In RRC signaling, an RRC command refers to an RRCmessage sent from the eNB to the UE to order a specific RRC procedure tobe performed. Examples of such a procedure include multi-carrieractivation, reconfiguration, or deactivation. RRC acknowledgement refersto an RRC message sent from the UE to the eNB to acknowledge that anordered RRC procedure has been successfully, or possibly unsuccessfully,completed.

As mentioned above, some issues exist relating to the procedure ofswitching from using one DCI set, referred to as the old DCI set, tousing another DCI set, referred to as the new DCI set. For example,switching may occur from a Non-CIF-DCI set to a CIF-DCI set, such as inmulti-carrier activation or the configuration of a subset of activecarriers as PDCCH monitoring carriers. In another example, switching mayoccur from a CIF-DCI set to a Non-CIF-DCI set, such as in multi-carrierdeactivation or the configuration of all active carriers as PDCCHmonitoring carriers. In yet another example, switching may occur from aCIF-DCI set with a CIF length of M to a different CIF-DCI set with a CIFlength of N (M≠N), such as in multi-carrier reconfiguration, where thelength of the CIF field is changed.

An embodiment for switching DCI sets may be described using thefollowing steps. These steps also illustrate network entry for a UEcapable of supporting multiple carriers. First, a UE capable ofsupporting multiple carriers may perform network entry as a Release-8UE, even if the UE is a Release-10 UE. The eNB may use Non-CIF-DCIs tosend PDCCH information to the UE. Second, the multi-carrier UE maysignal its multi-carrier capabilities to the eNB via the UE capabilityexchange procedure. Third, the eNB may reconfigure the UE formulti-carrier operation, which includes the use of CIF-DCIs on the PDCCHas dedicated control signaling to that UE. Broadcast PDCCH signaling,such as system information (SI-RNTI) and paging (P-RNTI) might continueto use Non-CIF-DCIs.

At one or more points during the above procedure, both the eNB and UEmight need to switch from using one DCI set to using a different DCIset. The exact time points for DCI set switching may not necessarily bethe same for the eNB and UE. An issue relating to DCI set switching inthis procedure is to ensure that the eNB and UE do not lose contact witheach other during the DCI set switching procedure. Loss of contactbetween the eNB and UE is potentially possible because corresponding DCIformats in each of the two DCI sets may have different lengths. Hence,the eNB could be transmitting a DCI format with one length, such as DCIX from the Non-CIF-DCI set, while the UE is attempting to blind decodethat DCI format but with a different length, such as DCI X+ from theCIF-DCI set. Various aspects of this issue are discussed below.

When a UE is instructed to perform an RRC procedure, including theswitching of DCI sets, no fixed activation time might be associated withthe particular RRC procedure in LTE. Certain RRC procedures do haveprocessing delay requirements, in that the UE might be expected tocomplete a particular procedure within a certain period of time asmeasured from the time the UE successfully received the RRC commandinitiating that procedure. However, the exact time at which the UEapplies a radio resource configuration might be unknown at the eNB.Hence, a window of uncertainty exists during which the eNB might beunsure as to the current configuration of the UE.

For these reasons, an eNB might not be completely sure that a UE hasperformed an instructed RRC procedure until the eNB receives back an RRCmessage from the UE acknowledging a successful completion of theprocedure. The eNB may hypothesize that the UE has successfully receivedthe RRC command initiating the procedure when an HARQ ACK for thephysical layer transport block containing the RRC command is receivedfrom the UE. However, there is a small but non-zero probability that theUE may signal a HARQ NACK, but the eNB decodes this signal as an ACK.This type of error may be referred to as a NACK-to-ACK error.

In such a situation, the eNB may behave as if the UE has received theRRC command when in fact the UE has not. Because the eNB has incorrectlyreceived a HARQ ACK for the transport block containing the RRC command,the eNB may not, and some cases will never, perform any further HARQretransmissions of that transport block. At some time later, when theeNB expects to receive the RRC acknowledgement message from the UE butdoes not, the eNB may realize that the UE never in fact received theoriginal RRC command. This time period during which the eNB is unawareof the error may be equal to at least the sum of the RRC procedure'sprocessing delay, as described above, and the time used to perform anuplink transmission. This latter time period may be further lengthenedif uplink HARQ retransmissions, or even RLC ARQ retransmissions atworst, are necessary or desirable.

NACK-to-ACK errors are expected to be relatively rare. However, in afull network deployment with many eNBs and an even larger number of UEs,even a small individual probability of this error occurring may resultin a large total number of NACK-to-ACK errors occurring. An alternativemethod for obtaining a reliable acknowledgement for data transmission isthrough the use of an AM RLC ACK of the RLC SDU (PDCP PDU) containingthe RRC command. However, this ACK may also be delayed since thereceiving AM RLC entity may not issue an immediate STATUS report, whichprovides ARQ ACK/NACK information. Additionally, the MAC PDU containingsuch a STATUS report may also be subject to uplink HARQ retransmissions,and thereby incur further delay.

As described in the preceding paragraph, when an eNB instructs a UE toswitch DCI sets, the eNB may not be completely sure that the UE hasactually received and/or acted upon the RRC command to perform theswitch until the eNB receives the corresponding RRC acknowledgementmessage back from the UE. The UE transmits this RRC acknowledgement onthe uplink, which may necessitate receiving an uplink grant, that is DCI0, on the PDCCH from the eNB. However, if the UE is to switch DCI sets,such as from using DCI 0 to DCI 0+, and the eNB cannot be sure of thisaction having been performed until the eNB receives the RRCacknowledgement message, then a question arises as to whether the eNBshould use a DCI 0 or DCI 0+ on the PDCCH to send an uplink grant to theUE so that the UE can transmit this RRC acknowledgement message.

When switching from one DCI set to another DCI set, there is also apotential issue of DCI length ambiguity in certain cases. For example,the UE may be in a transmission mode where the UE is searching fordownlink resource assignment DC's “X” and “Y” on the PDCCH. DCI X couldbe DCI 1A and DCI Y could be the specific DCI associated with thecurrently configured transmission mode. If the UE is switched from theNon-CIF-DCI set to the CIF-DCI set, then possibly DCI X and DCI Y+, orDCI Y and DCI X+, may have the same lengths. Because the UE may beunaware of exactly when the eNB switches from transmitting theNon-CIF-DCI set to transmitting the CIF-DCI set on the PDCCH, if the UEsuccessfully blind decodes a PDCCH candidate, the UE may not be able todetermine unambiguously whether that PDCCH candidate corresponds to DCIX or DCI Y+, or alternatively, to DCI Y or DCI X+. Specific examples ofsuch scenarios can be derived by referring to the DCI format lengthslisted in Table 1 to Table 4, shown above.

In an illustrative example, suppose a UE is configured in transmissionmode 5, which uses DCI 1 D, or transmission mode 6, which uses DCI 1B.DC's 1B and 1D are of the same length for a given bandwidth and numberof Tx antennas at the eNB, so this example applies equally well to bothDCI formats. With two Tx antennas at the eNB, DC's 1B and 1D have alength of 28, 29, or 30 bits, respectively, for bandwidths of 10 MHz, 15MHz, and 20 MHz. DCI format 1A, which must also be searched for, has alength of 25, 27, or 28 bits, for the same three bandwidths. Supposethat a 1-bit (10 MHz) or 2-bit (15 and 20 MHz) CIF field was then addedto these DCI formats. Then, DCI 1A+ would have a length of 28, 29, or 30bits, for the three given bandwidths. In this case, these lengths areidentical to the DCI 1B/1D lengths, so the UE would be unable todistinguish between DCI 1A+ and DCI 1B/1D simply by blind decoding.

Similarly, when four Tx antennas are present at the eNB and a 10 MHzcarrier is used, DC's 1B/1D have a length of 30 bits, while DCI 1A has alength of 27 bits. If a 3-bit CIF field is used, then DCI 1A+ would havethe same length (27+3=30) as DC's 1B/1D.

This DCI length ambiguity issue may also exist for the situations wherecarriers of different bandwidths share the same PDCCH and/or wheredifferent carriers may be configured in different transmission modes.This issue may be exacerbated by carriers that are at widely-separatedfrequencies since such carriers may exhibit different wirelesspropagation characteristics and may therefore be more likely to beconfigured in different transmission modes than are carriers that areclosely-spaced in frequency.

The issue of switching DCI sets while ensuring that PDCCH communicationsbetween the eNB and UE are not lost has some similarities to theexisting procedure of reconfiguring a UE to use a different transmissionmode. Generally, a UE may be configured to operate in one of severalpossible transmission modes. For each transmission mode, the UE may beexpected to search for DCI 0/1A, which have the same length, and one ofDC's 1, 1B, 1D, 2, and 2A, depending upon the current transmission mode.When a transmission mode change is “instructed,” as an RRC procedure,there is a window of uncertainty between the eNB transmitting the RRCcommand and the eNB receiving the RRC acknowledgement. This uncertaintyis described further above. During this window of uncertainty, the eNBmay not be certain which of the two, either the old or the new,transmission modes the UE is currently operating in.

A solution to this issue may be to attempt to ensure that the UE mayalways search for DCI 1A in every transmission mode. An eNB can then useDCI 1A to send downlink resource assignments to the UE until the RRCacknowledgement message is received back from the UE. The eNB can thenswitch, if desired, to using the particular DCI associated with thecurrent transmission mode, that is DCI 1, 1B, 1D, 2 or 2A. Similarly,the UE may always searches for a DCI 0 on the PDCCH regardless of thecurrently configured transmission mode. In this manner, the eNB may beable to send, and in some embodiments is always able to send, uplinkgrants to the UE.

However, a switch from the Non-CIF-DCI set to a CIF-DCI set, or viceversa, or between CIF-DCI sets with different length CIF fields, mayresult in different length DCIs, such as 1A and 1A+, being used on thePDCCH. There is no DCI similar to DCI 1A that can be received in allpossible carrier aggregation modes, for example with CIF field lengthsof 0, 1, 2, or 3 bits.

A switch from the Non-CIF-DCI set to a CIF-DCI set, or vice versa, orbetween CIF-DCI sets with different length CIF fields, may likely resultin a change in length for DCI 0 as a CIF field is either added ordeleted. For this reason, there exists a definite risk that the eNB maybe unable to provide decodable uplink grants to the UE. Switchingtransmission modes as described above may not result in a length changeof DCI 0, and in some cases will never result in such a length change.Hence, the eNB may always be able to continue providing uplink grants tothe UE even if the eNB is unsure as to which transmission mode the UE iscurrently in, and in some cases may always be able to continue toprovide such uplink grants.

As mentioned above, a DCI set refers either to the set of Non-CIF-DCIs,such as Release-8 DCIs, or to a set of CIF-DCIs. Multiple CIF-DCI setswith different length CIF fields may exist. A CIF field may have alength from 1 to 3 bits, possibly more.

When constructing a CIF-DCI from the corresponding Non-CIF-DCI, such asDCI 1A+ from DCI 1A, it might be necessary to include a CIF fieldsomewhere within the information bit payload of the DCI. This CIF fieldmay be added at the beginning of the information bits, following all ofthe existing information bits, or possibly even somewhere in the middleof the existing fields.

When the information bit payload of a Release-8 DCI format has anambiguous bit length, then an additional padding bit with a value of 0may be appended, and in some cases is always appended, to theinformation bit payload. The ambiguous bit length sizes include 12, 14,16, 20, 24, 26, 32, 40, 44, and 56. In addition, if the payload valueplus any padding bits of a Release-8 DCI 1 is equal to that of DCI 1Afor the same bandwidth, then an additional zero padding bit may beadded, and in some cases is always added, to DCI 1 so that DCI 1 and 1Ado not have the same length.

The embodiments described herein each address one or more of the issuesdescribed above. The following embodiments may be considered whendefining the exact formats of new CIF-DCIs, especially when padding bitsresulting from application of the rules described above are included.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating adding a CIF field to a Release-8 DCIwhile retaining any existing padding bits. DCI formats 400 all refer tothe same DCI format being modified over time. DCI format 402 shows theoriginal DCI format with one or more padding bits 403. These paddingbits 403 need not be present. DCI format 404 shows the same DCI formatas DCI format 402, with the addition of a CIF 405.

Existing padding bits may be retained, and the CIF field is added. TheCIF field need not necessarily be added at the end of the payload. DCIformat 406 shows the same DCI format as DCI format 404, with theaddition of one or more further padding bits 407. These further paddingbits 407 might be added in order to avoid ambiguous total payloadlengths. For certain bandwidths, CIF field lengths, DCI formats, and thefurther padding bits 407 might not be necessary or desirable.

In one embodiment, adding a CIF field to a Release-8 DCI may increasethe length of the resulting DCI. The existing Release-8 DCI payload oflength M is originally retained, plus any padding bits that are to beadded. A CIF field of length N may be included in the payload. If theresulting length (M+N) corresponds to one of the ambiguous payload sizeslisted above, then an additional padding bit may be included. Inaddition, if the resulting length of DCI 1+ equals that of DCI 1A+, thenadditional padding bits may be included in DCI 1+ until the total lengthis not equal to that of DCI 1A+ and its length does not belong to theset of ambiguous sizes, such as those listed above. An example of thisprocedure using DCI 1A is illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating adding a CIF field to a Release-8 DCIwhile removing any existing padding bits, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure. DCI formats 500 all refer to the same DCIformat being modified over time. DCI format 502 shows the original DCIformat with one or more padding bits 503. These padding bits 503 neednot be present. DCI format 504 shows the same DCI format as DCI format502, after removing the padding bits 503. DCI format 506 shows the sameDCI format as DCI format 504, but with the addition of a CIF 507. DCIformat 508 shows the same DCI format as DCI format 506, but with theaddition of one or more further padding bits 509.

Note that a Release-8 DCI format 1A may or may not include one or morepadding bits 503. However, if they are present, then the padding bits503 may be removed, as in DCI format 504. A CIF field is then added(507), but might not necessarily be at the end of the payload as shown.For DCI format 508, the extra padding bit or bits (509) may be added inorder to avoid ambiguous total payload lengths. For certain bandwidths,CIF field lengths, and DCI formats, this step might not be necessary ordesired.

Thus, in this embodiment, any padding bits that were added to theexisting Release-8 DCI payload of length M are removed. There may be “P”such padding bits, where P could be zero. A CIF field of length N may beincluded in the payload. If the resulting length (M−P+N) corresponds toone of the ambiguous payload sizes, such as those listed above, then anadditional padding bit may be included. In addition, if the resultinglength of DCI 1+ equals that of DCI 1A+, then additional padding bitsmay be included in DCI 1+ until its length is not equal to that of DCI1A+ and its length does not belong to the set of ambiguous sizes listedabove. An example of this procedure using DCI 1A is illustrated in FIG.5.

DCI Set Switching

As introduced above, the concept of using different DCI sets fordifferent multi-carrier configurations might be required or desirable ifa CIF field is to be added to existing DCI formats. For this reason,defining a procedure for switching between different DCI sets may bedesirable or necessary.

Again, DCI set switching refers to the procedure of switching from usingone DCI set, referred to as the old DCI set, to using another DCI set,referred to as the new DCI set. This procedure may include a switchinvolving any of the following.

DCI set switching may include switching from Non-CIF-DCIs to CIF-DCIs.An example of this type of switch may occur during multi-carrieractivation or the configuration of a subset of active carriers as PDCCHmonitoring carriers.

DCI set switching may include switching from CIF-DCIs to Non-CIF-DCIs.An example of this type of switch may occur during multi-carrierdeactivation or the configuration of all active carriers as PDCCHmonitoring carriers.

DCI set switching may include switching from CIF-DCIs with a certainlength DCI field to CIF-DCIs with a different length DCI field. Anexample of this type of switch may occur during multi-carrierreconfiguration, where the length of the CIF field is changed.

One specific embodiment of the expected overall format of this procedureto switch DCI sets can be described via the following steps. These stepsalso illustrate network entry for a UE capable of supporting multiplecarriers.

First, a UE capable of supporting multiple carriers (e.g. Rel-10)performs network entry as a Release-8 UE. The eNB uses Non-CIF-DCIs tosend PDCCH information to the UE. Second, a multi-carrier UE may signalits multi-carrier capabilities to the eNB via the UE capability exchangeprocedure. Third, the eNB may reconfigure the UE for multi-carrieroperation. Reconfiguring may includes the use of CIF-DCIs on the PDCCHas dedicated control signaling to that UE. Broadcast PDCCH signalingsuch as system information, SI-RNTI, and paging, P-RNTI, might continueto use Non-CIF-DCIs.

Specify an Activation Time

In another embodiment for performing DCI set switching, the RRC commandthat orders a switch in DCI sets could also include an activation time.The activation time could be in the form of an SFN and subframe offsetwithin that radio frame. The specified activation time may besufficiently far in the future that there would be enough time for theUE to receive the RRC command and then transmit an RRC acknowledgementback to the eNB. The eNB would thus have a clear acknowledgement thatthe UE would also switch DCI sets before the switch is scheduled tooccur. The eNB and UE would then perform a coordinated switch in DCIsets at the same time. This action would eliminate the uncertaintywindow where the UE and eNB may not be sure which DCI set the otherentity is using.

If the eNB did not receive an RRC acknowledgement back from the UE orhad not received an ARQ ACK from the AM RLC entity associated with thecontrol-plane SRB1 that carries RRC traffic, the eNB would realize thatthe UE had not received the original RRC command. The UE might not havereceived the original RRC command due to, perhaps, a NACK-to-ACK error.In such a situation, the eNB would not switch DCI sets, but wouldinstead resend the RRC command with a new activation time.

One potential issue to this approach is that it might not enable the UEto perform the DCI set switch in multi-carrier configuration as soon aspossible. There may be various delays in transmitting the RRC commandand/or RRC acknowledgement. These delays might result, for example, dueto downlink HARQ and/or uplink HARQ retransmissions. Hence, theactivation time may be set sufficiently far in the future to account foradditional delay potentially introduced by possible downlink and/oruplink HARQ retransmissions. Setting the time in this manner reduces theflexibility and dynamic responsiveness of the system.

eNB does not Assign Resources to the UE During Uncertainty Window

In another embodiment for performing DCI set switching, the eNB mightnot assign resources to the UE, via the PDCCH, during the uncertaintywindow described above. Because there is an uncertainty window duringwhich the eNB may be unsure as to which DCI set the UE is currentlyusing, the eNB could simply avoid sending any downlink transmissions oruplink grants to the UE during this uncertainty period. The onlyexception might be for downlink HARQ retransmissions of the transportblock containing the RRC command, if such retransmissions are required.By temporarily “suspending” contact, there would be no danger in the eNBsending PDCCH communications that the UE would be unable to blinddecode.

This approach, however, has a few issues. The length of the uncertaintywindow could be extended if downlink and/or uplink HARQ retransmissionsare required or desired. During this time, all downlink and uplinktraffic might be blocked, which would have a temporary impact onthroughput to/from the UE. Further, if there are important messages tobe delivered to the UE immediately, such as mobility-related signaling,this solution may incur additional undesirable delay. Another key issueis that the eNB might still have a problem in sending an uplink grant tothe UE so that the UE can transmit the RRC acknowledgement. If, in fact,the UE did not perform the DCI set switch, such as in the case of aNACK-to-ACK error, then the eNB might send the UE a DCI 0+, while the UEwould be searching for a DCI 0 (with a different length) on the PDCCH.This situation assumes a switch from the Non-CIF-DCI set to a CIF-DCIset. This issue could, however, be addressed via the solution describedimmediately below.

eNB Transmits DC's from Both DCI Sets During Uncertainty Window

In another embodiment for performing DCI set switching, during theuncertainty window, the eNB could transmit DC's from both DCI sets tothe UE. These DCI pairs may refer to the same downlink resources oruplink grant. For example, if the eNB was performing a downlinktransmission, it might include both a DCI 1A and DCI 1A+ on the PDCCHfor a given subframe. Both DCI formats may both point to the samedownlink resources on the PDSCH. Similarly, for an uplink grant, the eNBmight include both a DCI 0 and DCI 0+, with both DCI formats referringto the same uplink resources on the PUSCH. In this case, it does notmatter which DCI set the UE was currently using, because DC's from bothsets would be present on the PDCCH.

A benefit of using this approach is that the number of blind decodingsthat the UE must perform on the PDCCH is not increased. Furthermore,traffic to and/or from the UE is not blocked during the uncertaintywindow, as might be the case for the solution described above.

However, transmitting from both DCI sets could increase the blockingprobability on the PDCCH, because the eNB might now have to findadditional space on the PDCCH for both DCIs. This increased blockingprobability could result in inefficient use of the PDSCH and/or PUSCHresources within the cell due to PDCCH blocking. Additionally, apossibility of confusion exists between ambiguous DCI lengths asdescribed above. Potential solutions to this latter problem aredescribed below with respect to the embodiments of specifying which DCIis to be used when ambiguous DCI lengths are present, and switching tonon-ambiguous transmission mode before switching DCI sets.

If the technique of avoiding assignation of resources to the UE duringthe DCI set switching uncertainty window were used, as described above,the eNB could then use the technique of sending both DCI sets to sendboth a DCI 0 and DCI 0+ to the UE when the eNB wishes to provide anuplink grant for the UE to transmit the RRC acknowledgement. Thistechnique may ensure that the UE was able to receive the uplink grant,regardless of which DCI set the UE was currently using. By onlytransmitting paired DC's from both DCI sets in this limited fashion,that is only to provide the uplink grant for the RRC acknowledgement,the potential impact on PDCCH blocking may be minimized.

In view of this fact, a hybrid solution may be used by combining thetechniques of avoiding assigning of resources during the uncertaintywindow and sending pairs of DCI sets. That is, during the transienttime, the eNB may try to temporarily block as many uplink and downlinktransmissions as possible. In the case any transmissions must be made,the eNB may transmit DC's from both DCI sets to the UE.

In another embodiment, the technique of specifying an activation timecan be combined with this technique of transmitting both DCI sets duringthe uncertainty window. In this case, the eNB might only send both DCIsets to the UE after the activation time if the eNB does not receive theRRC acknowledgement message, or AM RLC feedback, from the UE prior tothe activation time. In this way, the activation time may be set to ashorter duration. If the UE has not received and processed the RRCcommand prior to the activation time, the UE might still be able todecode the old DCI set.

New DCI Format

In another embodiment for performing DCI set switching, a new DCI formatcould be defined that the UE would search for on the PDCCH, regardlessof the current multi-carrier configuration of the UE. This techniquecould be used in order to reduce the likelihood that the eNB and UEwould lose contact with each other, regardless of which DCI set eachentity is using. This technique would be a similar idea to a DCI 1A thatthe UE searches for in all transmission modes, as described above withregard to DCI sets and DCI set switching.

This embodiment might, however, increase the number of blind decodesthat a multi-carrier capable UE would have to perform. Increasing thenumber of blind decodes might undesirably increase the processing andpower consumption at the UE. The design of DCI 1A was optimized in thatDCI 1A is the same length as DCI 0 and DCI 3/3A, which the UE must alsosearch for, and hence the UE can search for all of these DCI formats viaa single blind decode on a particular PDCCH candidate. However,searching for all DCI formats via single blind decode might not bepossible if yet another DCI format is introduced.

In an embodiment, the new DCI format might have a fixed lengthregardless of the number of activated carriers. Thus, the new DCI formatmight not include a CIF field or might include a CIF field with a fixedlength equal to the maximum possible CIF size (e.g. 3 bits).Additionally, the lengths of the existing DCI formats might vary basedon the length of any CIF field that was included.

In addition to a new DCI format, a new DCI might be defined in such amanner that the DCI length was different from all other possible DCIformats, including DC's both with and without a CIF field. This new DCIwould allow the UE to unambiguously identify that DCI via blinddecoding. However, finding a new length that does not “collide” with anyof the existing possible DCI lengths might be difficult.

In a related embodiment, the UE might be required to always search forDCI 1A, with no CIF field, and DCI 0, which would be the same length,regardless of whether or not carrier-aggregation was enabled. If found,the DCI 1A or DCI 0 would be assumed to refer to the anchor carrier orto the carrier which contains the PDCCH. Hence, a CIF field might not berequired. However, this embodiment might result in the UE having toperform a greater number of blind decodes, because this technique mightadd one more additional DCI lengths that the UE would have to searchfor.

Dual DCI Set Blind Decoding at the UE/Two-Way Handshake

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a two-way handshake procedure forswitching DCI, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Inthis embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the old DCI set refers to the DCIset that is being used prior to a DCI set switch, while the new DCI setrefers to the DCI set that is to be used following the DCI set switch.DCI sets 600 in relation to both the eNB and the UE are presented inFIG. 6.

After an eNB sends an RRC command ordering a DCI set switch to the UE,the eNB may continue to use the old DCI set. When a UE receives an RRCcommand ordering a DCI set switch, the UE may temporarily beginmonitoring both DCI sets on the PDCCH. When the eNB wishes the UE totransmit the RRC acknowledgement message, the eNB may send an uplinkgrant, DCI 0, to the UE. After the eNB has successfully received the RRCacknowledgement, the eNB knows that the UE is monitoring both DCI sets,and can then switch to the new DCI set. The UE can stop monitoring theold DCI set when one of the following conditions is satisfied.

One condition may be that the eNB sends a further RRC commandinstructing the UE to stop monitoring the old DCI set. Another conditionmay be that the UE has received a specified number of DC's thatunambiguously belong to the new DCI set. This number could either bespecified as a fixed quantity in the standard or be configurable. Thenumber may be configurable via RRC signaling. The number could even beincluded as a parameter in the RRC command that originally ordered theDCI set switch. It may be desirable to use a value larger than 1 inorder to guard against false positive detections of DC's on the PDCCHaccidentally triggering this condition prematurely.

The approach described with respect to FIG. 6 may be considered atwo-way handshake procedure, with the second handshake being eitherexplicit (the first of the above two conditions) or implicit (the secondof the above two conditions). The first handshake may occur by the UEsignaling that it is now monitoring both DCI sets so that the eNB cannow switch to using the new DCI set. The second handshake may occur whenthe eNB signals, either explicitly or implicitly, that it is no longertransmitting the old DCI set so that the UE can stop monitoring that DCIset.

This embodiment has a number of benefits. The two-way handshakeprocedure likely does not block downlink/uplink traffic to/from the UE,as might the embodiment described with respect to the eNB avoidingassigning resources during the uncertainty window. The two-way handshakeprocedure also does not increase the probability of blocking on thePDCCH, as might the embodiment described with respect to the eNBtransmitting DC's from both DCI sets during the uncertainty window. Thetwo-way handshake procedure also may help ensure that the eNB and UE donot accidentally lose contact with each other due to a NACK-to-ACK erroron the physical layer transport block that contains the RRC commandordering the DCI set switch.

Nevertheless, some additional blind decoding, and hence additionalprocessing, might be used by the UE during the handshaking processinvolved with switching DCI sets. However, this additional processingwould be only on a temporary basis. Hence, the additional processing maynot result in significant incremental power consumption, especially ifmulti-carrier mode reconfigurations do not occur frequently.

When the UE is monitoring two DCI sets, there is a possibility thatcertain DCI formats in both of the DCI sets may have the same length. Inthis case, the UE might not know which DCI was intended in the event ofa successful blind decoding on the PDCCH. For example, DCI X and DCI Y+might have the same length, so the UE would not be able to unambiguouslydifferentiate between these two DCI formats during the time period wherethe UE is monitoring both DCI sets. This situation may benefit from theuse of one of the solutions described with respect to the embodiments ofspecifying which DCI is to be used when ambiguous DCI lengths arepresent or switch to non-ambiguous transmission mode before switchingDCI sets, as described below.

Specifying which DCI is to be Used when Ambiguous DCI Lengths arePresent

In another embodiment useful for performing DCI set switching, adetermination or selection may be made regarding which DCI is to be usedwhen ambiguous DCI lengths are present. When there exists a possibilityof ambiguous DCI lengths during a DCI set switch, such as when DCI X andDCI Y+ have the same lengths as described above, a determination orselection may be made regarding which DCI format is to be avoided orassumed not to be present. The following paragraph provides anillustrative example of this embodiment.

Suppose there are two Tx antennas at the eNB, the multiple carriers allhave 20 MHz bandwidth, and the UE is currently configured fortransmission mode 5. If the UE is currently using the Non-CIF-DCI set,then the UE might be searching for DCI 1A (28 bits) and DCI 1D (30 bits)on the PDCCH. If the UE is reconfigured for multi-carrier operation witha 2-bit CIF field, then DCI 1A+ would have a length of 30 bits and DCI1D+ would have a length of 33 bits. An additional padding bit might beadded to DCI 1D+ because 32 bits might not be an allowable length. Therewould thus be a potential blind decoding ambiguity between DCI 1D andDCI 1A+, because both would have a length of 30 bits.

In such a situation, the eNB might be required not to use DCI 1A+ untilthe eNB has received the RRC acknowledgement message back from the UE.After the eNB has received this RRC acknowledgement, the eNB knows thatthe UE is now monitoring only the CIF-DCI set. Consequently, the eNB maynow use DCI 1A+ because the eNB knows that the UE is no longer searchingfor DCI 1D on the PDCCH. In the opposite direction, such as whenswitching from the CIF-DCI set to the Non-CIF-DCI set, the eNB may avoidusing DCI 1D until the eNB received the RRC acknowledgement message fromthe UE, since there is the potential for confusion with DCI 1A+.

Thus, a specification may be made that the unused DCI format is the onebelonging to the DCI set that the UE is supposed to switch to (i.e. thenew DCI set), because there may be the chance that the UE does not knowthat it is supposed to switch DCI sets for some reason, such as theoccurrence of a NACK-to-ACK error. This embodiment may ensure that theeNB does not send a DCI 1A+ that the UE might incorrectly interpret as aDCI 1D when the UE is still using the Non-CIF-DCI set, for example.

A related alternative embodiment might be for the eNB to avoid using allDC's that may have ambiguous lengths until the RRC acknowledgement isreceived from the UE. This technique may not be possible, however. Forexample, it may be difficult for the eNB to avoid using DC's of the samelength as DCI 1A or 1A+, because DCI 0 & 0+ and DC's 3/3A & 3+/3A+ mightalso be of the same respective lengths.

Yet another alternative might be to specify additional padding bits incases where ambiguous DCI format lengths might exist. This technique mayeliminate all or most possible occurrences of ambiguous DCI formatlengths. This technique may be complicated, however, due to the numberof DCI lengths that already exist and the possible different lengths ofthe CIF field, such as 1, 2, or 3 bits.

Switch to Non-Ambiguous Transmission Mode Before Switching DCI Sets

In another embodiment useful for performing DCI set switching, a switchto a non-ambiguous transmission mode may be made before switching DCIsets. The possibility of having ambiguous DCI lengths during a DCI setswitch, such as DCI X and DCI Y+ having the same length, may only occurfor certain transmission modes. The examples provided above with regardto DCI sets and DCI set switching might only apply to transmission modes5 and 6, for instance. If the UE is in such a potentially ambiguoustransmission mode, the eNB might first reconfigure the UE to anintermediate “safe” unambiguous transmission mode. Thereafter, the eNBmight instruct the UE to switch DCI sets, and then finally reconfigurethe UE back to the desired transmission mode. Such a non-ambiguous safetransmission mode might be transmission mode 1 (single transmit antennaat the eNB) or transmission mode 2 (transmit diversity from the eNB)depending upon the number of transmit antennas at the eNB.

For example, suppose the UE was in single carrier mode and intransmission mode 5. In order to switch the UE to multi-carrier mode,the following steps could be performed.

First, the eNB may send an RRC command to the UE instructing the UE toswitch to transmission mode 2. Second, the UE may send an RRCacknowledgement to the eNB stating that the UE had switched transmissionmodes. Third, the eNB may send an RRC command to the UE instructing theUE to switch to multi-carrier mode, with all carriers operating intransmission mode 2.

Fourth, the UE may then send an RRC acknowledgement to the eNB statingthat the UE had activated multiple carriers. Fifth, the eNB may send anRRC command to the UE instructing the UE to switch back to transmissionmode 5 on either all or a subset of the multiple carriers. Finally, theUE may send an RRC acknowledgement to the eNB stating that the UE hadswitched transmission modes.

This embodiment might involve signaling and performing three separateconsecutive RRC procedures, rather than just one DCI set switch.Additional delay might result with respect to performing the overallmulti-carrier reconfiguration. Furthermore, additional signalingoverhead might be incurred with respect to sending RRC commands and RRCacknowledgements for each of the three RRC procedures.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing DCI setswitching, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Themethod shown in FIG. 7 may be implemented in either a UE or an accessnode, such as those shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, while carrieraggregation is being used. The method shown in FIG. 7 may be implementedusing a processor and/or other components, such as those shown in FIG.8. The method shown in FIG. 7 may be implemented using procedures suchas those described with respect to FIGS. 4 through 6.

The process begins as the processor causes either a UE or an access nodeto cause a switch between a first downlink control information (DCI) setand a second DCI set while carrier aggregation is being used (block700). The process terminates thereafter.

The UE and other components described above might include processing andother components capable of executing instructions related to theactions described above. FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a system 800that includes a processing component, such as processor 810, suitablefor implementing one or more embodiments disclosed herein. In additionto the processor 810 (which may be referred to as a central processorunit or CPU), the system 800 might include network connectivity devices820, random access memory (RAM) 830, read only memory (ROM) 840,secondary storage 850, and input/output (I/O) devices 860. Thesecomponents might communicate with one another via a bus 870. In somecases, some of these components may not be present or may be combined invarious combinations with one another or with other components notshown. These components might be located in a single physical entity orin more than one physical entity. Any actions described herein as beingtaken by the processor 810 might be taken by the processor 810 alone orby the processor 810 in conjunction with one or more components shown ornot shown in the drawing, such as a digital signal processor (DSP) 880.Although the DSP 880 is shown as a separate component, the DSP 880 mightbe incorporated into the processor 810.

The processor 810 executes instructions, codes, computer programs, orscripts that it might access from the network connectivity devices 820,RAM 830, ROM 840, or secondary storage 850 (which might include variousdisk-based systems such as hard disk, floppy disk, or optical disk).While only one CPU 810 is shown, multiple processors may be present.Thus, while instructions may be discussed as being executed by aprocessor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, orotherwise by one or multiple processors. The processor 810 may beimplemented as one or more CPU chips.

The network connectivity devices 820 may take the form of modems, modembanks, Ethernet devices, universal serial bus (USB) interface devices,serial interfaces, token ring devices, fiber distributed data interface(FDDI) devices, wireless local area network (WLAN) devices, radiotransceiver devices such as code division multiple access (CDMA)devices, global system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiverdevices, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX)devices, and/or other well-known devices for connecting to networks.These network connectivity devices 820 may enable the processor 810 tocommunicate with the Internet or one or more telecommunications networksor other networks from which the processor 810 might receive informationor to which the processor 810 might output information. The networkconnectivity devices 820 might also include one or more transceivercomponents 825 capable of transmitting and/or receiving data wirelessly.

The RAM 830 might be used to store volatile data and perhaps to storeinstructions that are executed by the processor 810. The ROM 840 is anon-volatile memory device that typically has a smaller memory capacitythan the memory capacity of the secondary storage 850. ROM 840 might beused to store instructions and perhaps data that are read duringexecution of the instructions. Access to both RAM 830 and ROM 840 istypically faster than to secondary storage 850. The secondary storage850 is typically comprised of one or more disk drives or tape drives andmight be used for non-volatile storage of data or as an over-flow datastorage device if RAM 830 is not large enough to hold all working data.Secondary storage 850 may be used to store programs that are loaded intoRAM 830 when such programs are selected for execution.

The I/O devices 860 may include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), touchscreen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls,voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, printers, videomonitors, or other well-known input/output devices. Also, thetransceiver components 825 might be considered to be a component of theI/O devices 860 instead of or in addition to being a component of thenetwork connectivity devices 820.

The following documents are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties:

R1-093699, “Way Forward on PDCCH for Bandwidth Extension in LTE-A”,Alcatel-Lucent et al.

R1-093465, “Component carrier indication scheme for carrieraggregation”, Panasonic.

3GPP, TS 36.212 v8.7.0 (2008-05) “E-UTRA; Multiplexing and channelcoding.”

3GPP, TS 36.814.

The embodiments provide for method and devices for switching between afirst downlink control information (DCI) set and a second DCI set whilecarrier aggregation is being used. While several embodiments have beenprovided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that thedisclosed systems and methods may be embodied in many other specificforms without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentdisclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrativeand not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to thedetails given herein. For example, the various elements or componentsmay be combined or integrated in another system or certain features maybe omitted, or not implemented.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component, whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and could be made without departing from the spirit and scopedisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method implemented in a user equipment (UE),the method comprising: reconfiguring from a first downlink controlinformation (DCI) set to a second DCI set while carrier aggregation isbeing used; and receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)with DCI formats containing a carrier indicator field (CIF), wherein thefirst DCI set comprises a set of DCI formats having a first CIF size,and wherein the second DCI set comprises a set of DCI formats having asecond, different CIF size.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinreconfiguring comprises changing from the first CIF size to the secondCIF size, and wherein the first CIF size or the second CIF size may beequal to zero.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningan activation time related to the reconfiguring.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the reconfiguration is based on a radio resource control(RRC) command.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one common DCIformat size is included in both the first DCI set and the second DCIset.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring, at theUE, both the first DCI set and the second DCI set until at least one ofthe following conditions has been satisfied: 1) receiving a radioresource control (RRC) command to stop monitoring the first DCI set, and2) receiving a predetermined number of DCI formats that unambiguouslybelong to the second DCI set; and thereafter the UE monitoring only thesecond DCI set.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the predeterminednumber is one of a fixed number and a configurable number received froman access node.
 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: specifyingwhich DCI format is to be monitored when a size of a DCI format in thefirst DCI set equals a size of a different DCI format in the second DCIset.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: when a size of a DCIformat in the first DCI set equals a size of a different DCI format inthe second DCI set, avoiding monitoring the DCI format in the second DCIset after the reconfiguring until a radio resource control (RRC) messageis received at the UE.
 10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:when a size of a DCI format in the first DCI set equals a size of adifferent DCI format in the second DCI set, including additional paddingbits for the DCI format in the second DCI set.
 11. A user equipment (UE)comprising: a processor configured to: reconfigure from a first downlinkcontrol information (DCI) set to a second DCI set while carrieraggregation is being used; and receive a physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) with DCI formats containing a carrier indicator field(CIF), wherein the first DCI set comprises a set of DCI formats having afirst CIF size, and wherein the second DCI set comprises a set of DCIformats having a second, different CIF size.
 12. The UE of claim 11,wherein the reconfigure comprises changing from the first CIF size tothe second CIF size, and wherein the first CIF size or the second CIFsize may be equal to zero.
 13. The UE of claim 11, wherein the processoris further configured to: receive an indication of an activation timerelated to the reconfigure.
 14. The UE of claim 11, wherein thereconfiguration is based on a radio resource control (RRC) command. 15.The UE of claim 11, wherein at least one common DCI format size isincluded in both the first DCI set and the second DCI set.
 16. The UE ofclaim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: monitor boththe first DCI set and the second DCI set until at least one of thefollowing conditions has been satisfied: 1) receiving a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) command to stop monitoring the first DCI set, and 2)receiving a predetermined number of DCI formats that unambiguouslybelong to the second DCI set; and thereafter monitor only the second DCIset.
 17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the predetermined number is one ofa fixed number and a configurable number received from an access node.18. The UE of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:determine which DCI format is to be monitored when a size of a DCIformat in the first DCI set equals a size of a different DCI format inthe second DCI set.
 19. The UE of claim 11, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: when a size of a DCI format in the first DCI setequals a size of a different DCI format in the second DCI set, avoidmonitoring the DCI format in the second DCI set after the reconfigureuntil a radio resource control (RRC) message is received.
 20. The UE ofclaim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: when a size ofa DCI format in the first DCI set equals a size of a different DCIformat in the second DCI set, include additional padding bits for theDCI format in the second DCI set.
 21. An access device comprising: aprocessor configured to: reconfigure a user equipment (UE) from a firstdownlink control information (DCI) set to a second DCI set while carrieraggregation is being used; transmit a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH) with DCI formats containing a carrier indicator field (CIF),wherein the first DCI set comprises a set of DCI formats having a firstCIF size, and wherein the second DCI set comprises a set of DCI formatshaving a second, different CIF size.
 22. The access device of claim 21,wherein the reconfigure comprises changing from the first CIF size tothe second CIF size, and wherein the first CIF size or the second CIFsize may be equal to zero.
 23. The access device of claim 21, whereinthe processor is further configured to: determine an activation timerelated to the reconfigure.
 24. The access device of claim 21, whereinthe reconfiguration is based on a radio resource control (RRC) command.25. The access device of claim 21, wherein at least one common DCIformat size is included in both the first DCI set and the second DCIset.
 26. The access device of claim 21, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: transmit a radio resource control (RRC) command to the UEto stop monitoring the first DCI set; and transmit a predeterminednumber of DCI formats that unambiguously belong to the second DCI setsuch that the UE monitors only the second DCI set.
 27. The access deviceof claim 26, wherein the predetermined number is one of a fixed numberand a configurable number transmitted by the access device.
 28. Theaccess device of claim 26, wherein the processor is further configuredto: specify which DCI format is to be monitored when a size of a DCIformat in the first DCI set equals a size of a different DCI format inthe second DCI set.
 29. The access device of claim 21, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: when a size of a DCI format in thefirst DCI set equals a size of a different DCI format in the second DCIset, include additional padding bits for the DCI format in the secondDCI set.
 30. A method implemented in an access device, the methodcomprising: reconfiguring a user equipment (UE) from a first downlinkcontrol information (DCI) set to a second DCI set while carrieraggregation is being used; and transmitting a physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) with DCI formats containing a carrier indicator field(CIF), wherein the first DCI set comprises a set of DCI formats having afirst CIF size, and wherein the second DCI set comprises a set of DCIformats having a second, different CIF size.
 31. The method of claim 30,wherein reconfiguring comprises changing from the first CIF size to thesecond CIF size, and wherein the first CIF size or the second CIF sizemay be equal to zero.
 32. The method of claim 30, further comprising:determining an activation time related to the reconfigure.
 33. Themethod claim 30, wherein the reconfiguration is based on a radioresource control (RRC) command.
 34. The method of claim 30, wherein atleast one common DCI format size is included in both the first DCI setand the second DCI set.
 35. The method of claim 30, further comprising:transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) command to the UE to stopmonitoring the first DCI set; and transmitting a predetermined number ofDCI formats that unambiguously belong to the second DCI set such thatthe UE monitors only the second DCI set.
 36. The method of claim 35,wherein the predetermined number is one of a fixed number and aconfigurable number transmitted by the access device.
 37. The method ofclaim 35, further comprising: specifying which DCI format is to bemonitored when a size of a DCI format in the first DCI set equals a sizeof a different DCI format in the second DCI set.
 38. The method of claim30, further comprising: when a size of a DCI format in the first DCI setequals a size of a different DCI format in the second DCI set, includingadditional padding bits for the DCI format in the second DCI set.